Samsung Galaxy phones get a new feature to protect your data during repair

What you want to know

  • Samsung has introduced a new feature that can protect your data whereas your cellphone is being repaired.
  • The repair mode feature will first be obtainable on the Samsung Galaxy S21 collection in South Korea.
  • Sooner or later, Samsung intends to develop the feature to different Galaxy fashions.

The thought of leaving your damaged cellphone within the fingers of a technician might be a nightmare, however Samsung has devised a resolution to offer you peace of thoughts whereas your system is being repaired.

Samsung has launched a new repair mode feature (opens in new tab) for Galaxy gadgets (by way of SamMobile (opens in new tab)). The feature is coming to the Galaxy S21 collection first in South Korea earlier than making its method to most of the greatest Samsung phones.

The new feature guards towards any potential invasion of privateness that will happen if you ship in your cellphone for repair. There have been related incidents prior to now, most notably in 2020, when recreation designer Jane McGonigal handed over her Pixel 5a for repairs. Somebody later gained entry to her cellphone and private data saved in Gmail, Google Drive, images, backup e mail account, and Dropbox.

With the repair mode service, Samsung hopes to maintain this from occurring to Galaxy cellphone house owners. It principally places your system on lockdown earlier than sending it in for repair.

In repair mode, technicians may have pretty restricted entry to apps. This implies they will solely entry primary apps that support within the cellphone repair course of, stopping anybody from accessing your private images and information in addition to non-public messages.

You may activate the feature by navigating to the “Battery and Gadget Care” part within the Settings app. Your system will reboot into Repair Mode, locking down your images, accounts, and messages. When the repair is completed, you may exit Repair Mode and return to your full app catalog.

It isn’t clear whether or not the repair mode will roll out in different areas. However then once more, you may quickly have the opportunity to do your personal repairs when Samsung, in collaboration with iFixit, begins delivery real repair elements to customers this summer season.

The new service addresses a longtime trouble for Galaxy cellphone customers, although it is a bit shocking why it took Samsung so lengthy to launch one of these feature. Anyway, it is a welcome change.